Hey all, I have a little question. I want to start a webstore in some time to sell the things I make. And here's the thing: I wonder if it's hard to take care of the whole..money side lets say of the business. They say a lot of small businesses go bankrupt goes they can't take care of their book-keeping (I hope this is the right word, English isn't my first language oops) I was thinking of taking a course where you learn the basics of it, but..it's around 500 dollars and I have to decide next week if I wanna do that cause it starts in 2 weeks. This is a whole lot of money so I thought I'd ask here, where the pro's are at would anybody mind to share their ideas and such?Thanks!

I'd say the bankruptcy comes in when folks spend more than they plan or make, in which case, keeping records wouldn't do these kind of people any good anyway!

$500 is outrageous, and probably includes much more info than you need - I would check out your local adult ed (usually run by your local public school system) for a basic budget or bookkeeping class, and it'll cost you maybe $50. One way to overspend is to spend $500 on a course about how to keep track of money!

There's really nothing to it. Make a budget, stick to it, and keep track of incoming and outgoing funds. You can use the computer, paper, or whatever to keep those records in, but keep them you must.

You buy materials or other things to run your business - log 'em. Date, amount, what, quantity. You make a product - figure out how much the materials cost you (that's why you keep track of materials). Pricing a product - materials cost plus time. And so on.

You get paid - keep track of how much, what for, when, and by whom.

If you've set a budget - when that advertiser comes around with the deal of a lifetime (um, the deal is for the advertiser, not you!), if it's not in your budget, then you can just say "no". If you see this awesome, awesome "thing" out shopping you could play with - no money in R&D? Forget it!

I have some 3 ring binders and a crate looking box that holds hanging file folders. In the binders I have log sheets I made up in an Excel Program and use for logging the supplies I buy, taxes I collect, date items sold, where my items being sold at, etc. In the crate I have hanging file folders labeled and I file receipts away, keep track of products I need, store "free" patterns I have found on the web, etc. I just made it really simple. I know what my expenses are and what I have coming in, what the profit on an item was, and how much I have to spend. The big thing for me is organization. I am bad at that. Also, it has caused me to be more aggresive in keeping my "books" up to date because I always want to know if I have any money to spend on this or that supply.

I'd say the bankruptcy comes in when folks spend more than they plan or make, in which case, keeping records wouldn't do these kind of people any good anyway!

$500 is outrageous, and probably includes much more info than you need - I would check out your local adult ed (usually run by your local public school system) for a basic budget or bookkeeping class, and it'll cost you maybe $50. One way to overspend is to spend $500 on a course about how to keep track of money!

There's really nothing to it. Make a budget, stick to it, and keep track of incoming and outgoing funds. You can use the computer, paper, or whatever to keep those records in, but keep them you must.

You buy materials or other things to run your business - log 'em. Date, amount, what, quantity. You make a product - figure out how much the materials cost you (that's why you keep track of materials). Pricing a product - materials cost plus time. And so on.

You get paid - keep track of how much, what for, when, and by whom.

If you've set a budget - when that advertiser comes around with the deal of a lifetime (um, the deal is for the advertiser, not you!), if it's not in your budget, then you can just say "no". If you see this awesome, awesome "thing" out shopping you could play with - no money in R&D? Forget it!

Thank you so much! I'll write down your advice and follow it cause it seems the perfect way to do it. I don't know how everything works with taxes though, I'm not in the USA but I'll find out. As far as I know the local adult ed is the one that's $500. it are like 15 classes I believe and you get a certificate but yeah, I can better invest 500 in a webshop instead. Maybe everything seems harder than it actually is. Thanks again for the advice and good luck with your own business

I have some 3 ring binders and a crate looking box that holds hanging file folders. In the binders I have log sheets I made up in an Excel Program and use for logging the supplies I buy, taxes I collect, date items sold, where my items being sold at, etc. In the crate I have hanging file folders labeled and I file receipts away, keep track of products I need, store "free" patterns I have found on the web, etc. I just made it really simple. I know what my expenses are and what I have coming in, what the profit on an item was, and how much I have to spend. The big thing for me is organization. I am bad at that. Also, it has caused me to be more aggresive in keeping my "books" up to date because I always want to know if I have any money to spend on this or that supply.

That's great advice, I'll keep it in mind..and go get myself some binders lol. Keeping everything in their own folder is very handy too. Thanks for your advice and good luck yourself!